Demoniaca: Everlasting Night

Another example of when what at first sight might look like a distinctive looking potential indy gem in a tried and true genre is ruined when the actual gameplay of the game is an active impediment to actually playing the darn thing.

Graphics, design and music are interesting. A game you might wanna try, but it is difficult to say the same for the gameplay, which is unfortunately quite raw. Fighting is too slow. Wooden obstacles that are all too common on top of the slow combat hurts the game's pacing. Jumping is the worst part. Walljumping often doesn't work properly, causing you to go places you do not want because you cannot adjust the power of the jump. And the map design fails to make up for all the shortcomings. As far as I can see, most of the negative criticism is of the gameplay. If the gameplay mechanics were reworked, it could be a nice game.

An exercise in bad controls and level design. Over complicated and convoluted fighting game controls in a game like this is not a good combo at all. Also there are too many places there the character just "spider grips" to things. Honestly the devs should have incorporated a ledge grab, but instead if your foot even touched the corner of a ledge, you just spider grip onto the side of it and are stuck having to bounce back and forth. Also, there's no rhyme or reason as to what actually damages you. Example You can stand in a pool of poison that will give you a damage animation, but not do anything (other than knock you down over and over again). On the other hand you can encounter an enemy (in the first area) who barely stands as tall as your knee, but it an absolute damage sponge and can turn you to stone and kill you with a few hits....and this is supposed to be a "basic" enemy. Blocking doesn't seem to work, and you have no visual cue or hint as you what actually is effective to block or not. Have you character be easily stun locked and knocked over constantly is aggravating at best. This seems like one of those beginner projects in Unity that should have been a free "concept demo" from with the developers could have grown and produced a decent game instead of this soft core H fighter/metroidvania thing... I bought this on steam and would have rather bought a soda than have wasted time with this.

I know I'm something of an outlier here, but this has become one of my favorite action-exploration games in recent memory. I feel like Demoniaca captures a lot of the essence of metroidvania: fun abilities, excellent music, good presentation, a minimal story, lots of secrets, and an array of oddities. First, though, we have to address the elephant in the room: the controls. Demoniaca is controlled more like a 4-button fighting game than a traditional side-scroller. The four face buttons are weak and heavy punches and kicks, with jump being the right trigger and block being the left one. It feels a little weird at first, and I realize this setup has kept people from enjoying this game. That's fair. You can customize the controls however you want, including one preset layout that has jump as the bottom face button, but it is still a far cry from what most of us are used to. It took me around 30 minutes before I really started to get used to it, but once I did, I realized that this is one of the best-feeling games in the genre. Before long, I was wall-jumping perfectly, grabbing walls when I wanted and sliding down them when I didn't. Once it clicked, I just felt so empowered. Speaking of empowered, your character learns a cool array of moves over the course of the game. Some are progression-based, such as reaching a certain area or defeating a boss. Others are found as secrets or bought from a store. They almost all do something pretty cool, from flaming jump kicks, to summoning flying bomb demons, to unleashing your inner beast and razing all in your path. There's also a leveling system with assign-able stat points and a huge amount of gear to find and equip. Creating the build you want is pretty fun, but is only relevant for about the first half of the game. After a certain point, I had accumulated a ton of resources and was able to unlock most of the skills and some very good gear, which remained pretty much locked in for the rest of the game, barring certain special situations. Balance is probably the thing Demoniaca struggles with the most, though in a way it doesn't feel too different from Symphony of the NIght. Both games are hardest at the beginning, as you have less moves and resources, but as you progress, you get to the point where the right setup can break the game in half. There are a couple moves in particular that are super abusable, but I still had a lot of fun working out how to best harness this power. I would describe Demoniaca as the opposite of a common phrase: it's hard to learn, but easy to master. Controls and balance are really the only things that could be a barrier to enjoying this game, so I'll run down the other aspects quickly: Graphics: Kind of mixed. Some art looks really good, but some of it is a garbled mess. It hits more than misses though. Except I never really liked the protagonist's text portrait when compared to the other characters. Story: The red-haired girl is trying to get revenge on a demon by attacking the tower of Babel? I think? I dunno, I think I spent too much time exploring and messing around to have really understood what was going on even if it was made very clear. Which it was not. Audio: HELL. YES. The sound and soundtrack in Demoniaca are fantastic. I wish there was more of it, as some pieces are used in multiple places. But what we have is so good, and the song that plays when you hit Soulslink Level 3 is bound to get your blood burning. I plan on revisiting this game from time to time, and when my catalog is as packed as it is these days, that's very high praise indeed.

Rough around the edges but enjoyable metroidvania. The controls do take some getting used to, but I like that it's at least trying something different.

This is pretty bad. The controls are really weird and I just randomly mashed buttons. There are different combos but I have no idea how you're supposed to know which combos to use at what time. Right trigger being jump just feels wrong. I can get used to it, sure but games can utilise every button on a controller in a way that feels right. The game looks stupid and unfinished (in general - some things look decent), so while I am learning how to play, it doesn't have anything to encourage me to continue playing. I knew it had mixed reviews before playing it but often people give negative reviews for no valid reason. In my opinion, it's not enjoyable.

fajna gierka z dobrą muzyką i ciekawą grafiką ale najgorsza to wymuszona przerwa czasowa tzw. loading screen po śmierci i zachowanie postaci które sprawia, że gra denerwuje. przyklejanie się postaci do ścian i ogólnie skoki to jakieś nieporozumienie. często giniesz w okolicznościach z pupppy [b]chciałem dobrze[/b] trochę pograłem ;-)

I see a lot of potential here. A metroidvania with beat 'em up/fighting game motions and inputs is a really awesome concept I wish was explored more often. For SNK fans, the main heroine shares a lot of moves similar to K', almost frame-by-frame. Below is just what I discovered so far but I'll update this as needed. Pros: -Mobility options like Teleport while grounded can act as an animation-cancel, removing recovery frames and getting you out of dicey situations at the cost of meter/DP if you're about to get smacked, or whiffed an attack. -Backstep is Guard+Back and is great for creating distance, but I haven't found a great projectile move as of yet. -There's NSFW content like nudity here apparently, but it can be turned off in options if you prefer. Cons: -Since there are fighting game motions and inputs, I expected there to be better hit-stun feedback and that the MC's moves would seem more impactful. Because of this, the bread and butter beginning combos of Light Punch/Kick > Heavy Punch/Kick are almost always unsafe and lead to a trade at best without moves like Teleport to get away. Better to Jab > Jab > Guard and never overextend. -Meter/DP management is tough, especially with low INT at low level, so learning habits for stringing normals into special attacks that require DP can lead to the MC just… standing there if you don’t have enough DP. Be wary! All in all, it’s been an entertaining ride so far, I’ll update more if needed.

While Demoniaca: Everlasting Night excels in its art, music, and atmosphere, there are some areas where the game falls short. The controls can feel a bit clunky at times, particularly during combat, and the overall polish of the game could use some improvement. There are occasional bugs and glitches that can disrupt the flow of the game, and the overall performance could be smoother. Despite these shortcomings, however, the game still manages to offer an enjoyable and engaging experience. The platforming and exploration elements are well-designed and challenging, and the combat system, while flawed, can be quite satisfying when it works. While the controls and polish could use some improvement, they do not detract too heavily from the overall experience. In conclusion, while Demoniaca: Everlasting Night may not be a perfect game, it still offers a unique and engaging experience that is worth playing for its exceptional art, music, and atmosphere. The game's shortcomings in controls and overall polish are noticeable, but they do not outweigh the game's strengths. For fans of Gothic horror and atmospheric games, Demoniaca: Everlasting Night is still a solid choice. I would give it a 7.5/10 for its exceptional art, music, and atmosphere, despite its flaws in controls and overall polish.

What is a game but a miserable pile of bad decisions...such an odd game...it just fails at what makes a game fun. The platforming starts out frustrating and settles into tedious... The combat "looks" cool but just feels...off...and encourages avoidance... There is no true sense of progressing. It just feels like you're pushing further while spinning your wheels at the same time. Equipping stat boosting items quickly falls into irrelevance once you realize that inventory management becomes a chore...the game gives you limited inventory then gluts you with middling items that sometimes literally materialize in your path...then tasks you with grinding them into dust ONE BY ONE to make room and to create a different type of currency to buy questionably better items... It's actually difficult to properly describe what makes playing this game...tedious? Best way I can put it is...you will be traveling along hitting every jump and somehow almost zen like hitting enemies...you were not even looking to attack...then one odd miscalculated jump will lead to you bonking around platforms and enemies whiffing hits, jumps and falling the entirety of a vertical shaft like area ending up being pinballed by enemies to death...yeah... so why am I not giving in a thumbs down? Making a game is hard work...and it is easy to sit and berate a dev's mistakes. But a lot of time, effort and passion is put into completing a game... So try it out and make your own conclusions...